Tua Tagovailoa: Miami Dolphins are just getting to know what he can do
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have to be thrilled with what Tua Tagovailoa is showing this year but fans shouldn’t be shocked, the signs have been there all along.
Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of Tua coming out of college. Maybe it is because I don’t like Alabama or maybe I just didn’t like a quarterback who appeared fragile. Once the Dolphins made him their choice at quarterback, my loathing of Alabama was put aside and I was all in on our QB. In the same way I was all in on Chad Henne and Ryan Tannehill. You support your QB, that’s how it works when you’re a fan.
Tannehill was good but wasn’t used right in Miami. He was held back by the coaches that drafted him and inevitably, the team moved on from him. They had to. This time around, Tagovailoa didn’t fit with what the Dolphins were trying to build. Brian Flores and his motley crew of offensive coordinators couldn’t figure out what to do, or how to coach him up. They couldn’t figure out his strengths. Unlike Joe Philbin and Adam Gase, the Dolphins opted to get rid of the coaches instead.
Mike McDaniel has been on fire since joining the Dolphins. We can’t be certain what percentage of fans absolutely love the guy but it has to be above 95%, at least one would think. McDaniel is quirky and odd and nerdy all in one and it is fitting considering his quarterback is odd, quirky, and nerdy all at once as well.
Tua is going to be a dangerous quarterback in the NFL. He is going to be one of those QBs who can carry a team on his shoulder and a player his teammates will respect. Tua has yet to his ceiling yet. He is three years into his NFL career but in reality, he is one year into his career.
We can’t discount the two years of turmoil under Brian Flores. They shaped him mentally. Toughened him up. Gave him an edge and a little “F-U” swagger to prove them all wrong, including his former head coach. But make no mistake, Tua has yet to learn to play in the NFL at this level.
Think about this, quarterbacks tend to get a lot better as they mature in the league. That is a scary thought. Tua is doing all of this with a mediocre offensive line and a below-average running game. What happens when the Dolphins figure those two aspects of the offense out? What happens when the defense clicks?
I’m not a homer and never have been. I see things for what they are. Supporting a player is a far cry from thinking that the player is the answer. I don’t support Tua, I like Tua. I think Tua has the “it” factor that I wasn’t sure about in year one. His consistency should be questioned or at least should have been. Tua was erratic and made too many mental errors. He took risks he shouldn’t take but it appears the concussion helped change the way he attacks the game.
Tua isn’t more careful than he was before, he is more open to the thought of letting a play go and trying to win the next one. In the last three weeks, Tua has settled down and it seems as the game has slowed down for him too.
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He has a lot of work to do. He needs to get rid of the fear he has with the deep ball and let it fly allowing his receivers to get back under it. He has improved on his reads and is improving on his field of vision but there is always room to get better.
In another year or two, Tua isn’t going to be a guy that the media seems surprised about, he will be the guy that everyone just expects to be good. Miami’s challenge is to keep the support around him.
Tua is in year one of his career resurrection and it is impressive. I can’t imagine how insanely deadly he will be when the rest of the offense elevates to the level of the passing game. When that happens…well, then we will be talking about perennial playoff contenders.